PLS Group Limited (PLS) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

[Presentation] [Foreign Language] and welcome, everyone, to the 2024 Annual General Meeting of Pilbara Minerals Limited. My name is Kathleen Conlon, and I'm the Chairman of Pilbara Minerals. We hope you enjoyed the video marking the 10-year anniversary of the first drilled hole at Pilgangoora. The Pilbara Minerals story has been a remarkable journey of growth with much more to come. Before we commence the presentations and the formal business of the meeting, for those of you in the room, please refer to the visual on the screen for evacuation procedures should there be an evacuation event. I would now like to welcome Whadjuk Noongar Elder and Traditional Owner, Emeritus Professor, Dr. Len Collard, to provide the Welcome to Country.

[Foreign Language] So to translate it to Australian, [Foreign Language] means good day, hello, greetings. [Foreign Language] translates to, how are you? So these are all the words in our language, the bosses of the Swan River we use when we talk to people that come to our land. But we also learned to speak in Australian because I knew that if I keep speaking to you in Noongar, it might go over their head. So I do tend to talk in at least 2 different languages, or possibly even 3, Noongar, Australian and English. So who speaks Noongar? Put your hand up -- no. Who speaks Australian? And who speaks English? So the segue in the welcome and the communication capacity is to explain the relationships in a communication way. So when the boat people turned up down here off of Fremantle, they spoke English. The Noongars, my family looking out, watching them and saying, "Hey, Whadjuk coming into our backyard." And they were speaking in Noongar. And so eventually, the Noongars and the Whadjuk got together and had a dialogue, and now we've got this thing called Australian. But the [indiscernible] is our nation's still says we speak English. I've been to England. I've been to Scotland. I've been to Wales. I've been to Ireland. And I struggle to figure out which one of them actually speak English because the Wales now always speak Welsh, the Irish always speak Gaelic; the Scots, they do Celtic. And well, the rest of them, they just talk as well. [Foreign Language] So to translate it to what language, English or Australian, I'll go for the Australian. All as I said is our people have been here a long time. We welcome you here to this river, the river lands. And in the future, when you get home, tell your family that you met some Noongar [indiscernible] at UWA. But here you are mainly in the Pilbara mining and they're creating economic prosperity for all in sundry and obviously, working heavily to try and minimalize the pollutions of oil and gas and other sort of stuff that goes on. And I think without telling you, you already know that lithium is going to be one of the go-to minerals that's going to help power us into the future. And I want to say to the Board, thanks so much for doing the work you do. And it's only 10 years. [indiscernible] me. Every time I look in the paper, I see Pilbara Minerals, it feels like you're way beyond 10 years of age. But I know that there's some really busy and important work going on here. And the Chairman said, Len, "I know those Aboriginal green time stories, how they go on and on and on. But mate, we've got a lot of stuff to cover. Can you please give us an edited version, which I am." That's the edited version. I want to say great to see you here at the beautiful campus at UWA. And hopefully, we'll catch up again soon in the not-too-soon future. Blessings, and hopefully, as we all do, that the economy start to power up again like the lithium batteries of the future, and we'll all be smiling and reminiscing in the song about the ASX going up like a skyrocket. Thank you very much, everyone. And I'll finish off by playing a tune on the didgeridoo. Why we do that? It's really to bring what Noongars called the [Foreign Language] It's bringing the good spirit because I know there's going to be some robust conversation from the shareholders and the stakeholders to the Board and vice versa. So I'm going to do the nice bit at the start. Blesses and leave us to the conversations and figuring out where to from here. [Presentation]

[Foreign Language] One of Noongar say see you later on. See you later on. Or in our language, [Foreign Language] I'll see you in the future. Thanks so much. And bless you.

Thank you to Dr. Len Collard for the Welcome to Country. I, too, would like to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which we meet, the Whadjuk Noongar people, and pay my respects to Elders, past and present. I also acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which our Pilgangoora operation is located, the Nyamal and Kariyarra People and their enduring connection to country. I'd like to introduce the PLS team. So with us -- with me today is our Managing Director and CEO, who I'm sure you all know well, Dale Henderson; Nonexecutive Director, Steve Scudamore; Nick Cernotta; Sally-Anne Layman; Miriam Stanborough; and our Company Secretary, Danielle Webber. Also in attendance, and I'm sure you're going to want to ask them a lot of questions, are the Pilbara's executive leadership team, our Chief Executive Officer (sic) [ Chief Executive Officer, ], Luke Bortoli; our Chief Sustainability Officer, Sandra McInnes; our Chief Development Officer, John Stanning; Project Director, Paul Laybourne; General Counsel, Jen Mintz; and Executive General Manager, Operations, Brett McFadgen. I'd also like to acknowledge in attendance, the company's share registry, Computershare, represented by Rod Somes. This year's Annual General Meeting is be conducted as a hybrid meeting being held physically here at the University Club of Western Australia as well as online via the Computershare meeting platform. We have encouraged shareholders to use either of these platforms available to participate in this meeting. I will now deliver a brief address, which will be followed by a presentation by Dale Henderson. And finally, we will move to the formal business of the meeting and provide an opportunity for questions. Thank you, everybody, for joining us here in Perth as well as those who are connected with us online. Welcome to our Annual General Meeting. The strong support from shareholders is greatly appreciated and is recognized as a strength of our business. Many of our shareholders have been along the journey with Pilbara Minerals since the beginning, and we thank you for your support. This is your company, and it's great to see a number of you here today. It's my pleasure to deliver my first address to shareholders as Chairman of Pilbara Minerals. I chose the role because I was looking for a strong growth company with long-term potential, a strong executive team with operating and project track records, a strong balance sheet to support the growth, and an opportunity to make a real difference in the energy transition. And I was absolutely captivated by the story of Pilbara Minerals, such a great Australian success story. It's a company that delivers on its promises and does things differently. As we saw on the video earlier, it's been 10 years since the team of visionary geologists completed the first drill hole into what we now know as the largest lithium ore reserves in the world, Pilgangoora. Four short years to first production. And in 6 years, we've become one of the world's leading lithium producers with Pilgangoora supplying 11% of the world's hard-rock lithium. As a Board, our role, first and foremost, is maintaining a high standard of governance. Strong corporate governance underpins good decision-making and make sure we maintain the highest standard of responsible and ethical business practices. We remain committed to strong compliance, transparent disclosures and independent decision-making by acting with integrity and always in the best interest of the company and shareholders. As a contributor to the global energy transformation, sustainability is a core focus for us. And I'm pleased to share that we've made significant advances in our sustainability journey in FY '24. This includes our continuous improvement in procurement and due diligence of suppliers; improved safety performance; the release of our power strategy; and our growing portfolio of partnerships with community organizations. Our safety performance remains strong. As our operation grows, so does our responsibility to make sure that our people go home safe and well every day. As Pilbara Minerals evolves and matures as a business, we continue to ensure that we are creating shared value for the communities in which we operate. The 2024 financial year saw a softening in lithium prices that impacted on financial performance. But as a nascent industry, pricing volatility is expected. During these times, we remain focused on what we can control and delivering on our commitments. We continue to build our strong production base, and find organic growth opportunities to build scale and strengthen our position as a low-cost global supplier of battery metals. Our 2 major expansion projects progressed to plan on time and on budget. The P680 project was commissioned, delivering not only a lift in production, but greater processing efficiencies, further strengthening our position as a low-cost operator. Our second expansion, P1000, continues to progress on schedule and on budget. The project is 80% complete as at the end of September and on track for first ore in early 2025. The stage approach to growth, along with our strategy to unlock the full potential of our flagship operation at Pilgangoora. While growth continues on home soil, we extended our position in the global battery metal supply chain. Construction of the lithium hydroxide chemical facility in South Korea, built in joint venture with POSCO, is now complete and achieved first production from Train 1 earlier this year. We commenced a joint feasibility study with Ganfeng for another potential downstream lithium conversion facility. During the financial year, construction commenced on the midstream demonstration plant project in joint venture with Calix Limited. Despite the pause to construction announced in the September quarter, we remain committed to this project and see it as a potential game changer to the entire industry. Subsequent to the end of the financial year, we announced a conditional acquisition of Latin Resources, who owns the Salinas lithium project in Brazil. This is on strategy, countercyclical transaction to diversify revenue beyond Pilgangoora, which will deliver a second 100% owned hard-rock lithium asset. The all-share transaction is a major step in Pilbara Minerals growth story, taking us beyond the Pilbara to new markets and new horizons. Last month, we announced a new operating model, in which we will place our solar processing plant, Ngungaju, into temporary care and maintenance in December. Optimizing our Pilgan plant, where the investment focus has been for the last 18 months, was a necessary and strategic step to preserve cash and our lithium reserves. This decision was made in conjunction with the planned completion of P1000, which enables us to meet our offtake commitments and maintain production to similar levels to FY '24. The agile nature of our operating model and ability to adapt to changing market conditions has placed us in a strong position. In 2015, at the same time, the team of geologists were drilling the first holes at Pilgangoora, a total of 370,000 electric vehicles were sold worldwide. Fast forward to 2024 and China now sells the same number of EVs every 2 weeks. Looking further ahead, the long-term demand for EVs and battery storage remains incredibly robust. We believe that no other lithium company is better placed to weather current conditions and capitalize when the market turns than Pilbara Minerals. We are resolute in our focus to create value for our shareholders and our communities in which we operate. I acknowledge the Managing Director and CEO, Dale, who his steady experienced hand at the wheel, backed by the talented and energetic leadership team. To all the great people of Pilbara Minerals, thank you for your continued effort and passion to make a difference. Pilbara Minerals is in a strong position. We have a clear strategic direction, prudent financial management and disciplined decision-making. With a solid operating performance and on-track project delivery, we remain focused on navigating the stage of the market. A bright future lies ahead, and we thank you for joining us for the journey. Now before I hand over to Dale, it would be very remiss of me not to neglect to mention that Mr. Tony Kiernan, who stepped down as Chairman of the company at the beginning of last year, is in the room today. So Tony, could you please stand so we have the opportunity for shareholders to show their appreciation to your significant contribution. I'm told I've missed a procedural piece. So before I ask Dale to come, I will -- we will not address questions in the presentation in the general business until the formal part of the meeting. For those who are attending virtually, you may submit your question at any time by typing and submitting a question on the online platform. [Operator Instructions] Alternatively, if you wish to ask a question verbally, please follow the instructions written below. Further information about the submission of questions via the online platform is set out in the online meeting guide available on our website or as an attachment. Please note that you can submit online questions from now, but they will not be addressed until the relevant time in the meeting. Please also note that your questions may be moderated, or if we receive questions on more than 1 topic, amalgamated together. If your question relates to one of the resolutions to be put to shareholders during the formal business, please reference the specific item it relates to, and it will be addressed in the room at the relevant time. For those in the room, I ask that you hold your questions until we reach the resolutions. So with that, I'll hand over to Dale.

Thank you very much, Kathleen, and good afternoon, everyone. A warm welcome to you all. And I'd also like to thank Dr. Ken -- sorry, Dr. Len Collard for his wonderful Welcome to the Country. Hard to imagine 10 years to this day and from first drill hole to where we are. And 10 years ago, today, global EV sales equated to about 1,000 cars every day. Today, that number will be sold by the time I finish this presentation. It gives you an idea of how quickly the market has changed. This will be a short presentation too, not a 6-hour presentation, just for the avoidance of doubt. Now over those 10 years, we have seen more than 40-fold increase in EV sales. In addition to that, demand is growing across a number of subsets, including mass energy storage, buses, motor bikes, planes and you name it, there is more and more products coming forth. Now Pilbara Minerals has emerged over this period, growing in lockstep with incredible market growth, but it's a nascent industry, and it's been a wild ride. Now if there's one thing I'd like you to take away from this presentation today is an understanding of the strategy we've been pursuing in this exciting growth industry; and secondly, our disciplined delivery against the strategy. Now in the years I've been with Pilbara Minerals and for most of the Board members, we have already seen several cycles. This experience has deeply shaped our approach to navigating this market. And the outcomes of these learnings are starting to flow through in the results that you're starting to see, particularly in this past year. So today, what I'll take you through is how we're positioning the business to not only navigate this point of the cycle, but to capitalize on this emerging sector. I'll start with the market update because it all starts there. I'll then move to the FY '24 highlights, stepping through each of the planks of our strategy, our operating platform, how we're growing that operating platform, chemicals and lastly, diversification. But to start, just a quick recap on Pilbara's position. So over the last 10 years, we've been developing and operating one of the largest hard-rock lithium assets globally, the Pilgangoora asset, located 140 kilometers southeast of Port Hedland on Yamal Country. The Pilgangoora asset offers a multi-decade mine life of more than 33 years at our expanded production capacity. We've been growing this operating platform in a way which delivers on 2 key outcomes. Firstly, it's about growing out the production base such that we can leverage that higher volume into a higher-priced market when that returns. Secondly, it's about investing in capital, which brings us to the left of the cost curve such that we're more competitive; and number two, we unlock more margin for our shareholders. As it relates to chemicals participation, that's been going very well. And I'll make some comments on that a little bit later. And then beyond that, we are diversifying beyond our base asset with the commencement of the acquisition of Latin Resources. This all-scrip noncash transaction provides a win-win for both shareholder groups to combine and leverage strengths of Pilbara Minerals for the development of this high-quality hard-rock asset and Salinas. The Latin team has developed a fantastic asset there. And the great mining state of Minas Gerais in Brazil. And we're joined here today by the Managing Director, Chris Gale from Latin Resources. Thanks for coming in, Chris. And Chris is available to a few questions, too, at the end of the presentation. Stepping forward, this plot illustrates the growth milestones of Pilbara Minerals as against our share price over the past 5 years. Now in the past few days, we've seen Pilbara's share price take a hit. There has been some downwards movement. This is principally owed to an index shift. Pilbara has shifted out of the MSCI World Standard Index, which PLS joined in October '22. Now what that equates to is roughly $600 million worth of share inflows and outflows as a function of moving out of that index. So that's what we think is principally responsible after this recent share market that we've seen. But having seen that past us, we're looking forward to things settling and normalizing. Now the milestones on the graph, our physical capacity milestones, so this includes our ore body increases, includes our various legs of expansion, and it also includes our asset acquisitions marked across there. But in parallel to this, other areas of progress will include our partnerships; our maturity partner pathway with partnerships has been at least as busy as what you see here; and also our financing maturity curve is also at least as busy as what you see here, which neither of which is shown. But across those 3 fronts, the expansions, our partnerships and financing, we've been moving forward in leaps and bounds what has been an impressive journey by any measure. And it's timely to acknowledge the many people that have contributed to Pilbara Minerals journey to date, of which Kathleen noted a number of them, and please indulge me as I do a shout out to a number of these again because they've been absolutely integral to the success we've had to date and will be integral to our success moving forward. So that includes our indigenous landowners, Nyamal and Kariyarra, our customers, our financiers, our contracted partners and, of course, you, our shareholders, thank you for your support and ongoing support. But I'd also like to make special mention of our great people across the business, whom are the driving force and the owner of all the results Pilbara Minerals delivered to date. I'd also like to acknowledge our executive team here, now that we've got sitting in the front row, Luke, Brett, Paul, Sandra, John and Jen. And again, I'd encourage you to have a conversation with them after the formal proceedings. And also to the Board of Pilbara Minerals, I'd like to acknowledge the huge role that they've played in stewarding the company today. They have felt each bump in the road and have wrestled with each of the key decisions as we have come up to each decision juncture along with the executive. And in the Board, we have the combination of both depth of experience, spread experience and now lithium experience care of the Pilbara's journey to date, which, frankly, lithium experience is in short supply, and we have the now in spades care of the Pilbara's Board and the broader Pilbara team. Kathleen did a shout out to [indiscernible]. Good to see you, former chair, 7-plus years at the helm, who bow out at the start of this calendar year after serving an absolute stellar earnings. And of course, we've had Kathleen coming up to almost a year now, has been an absolute [indiscernible] and has wasted no time getting up the curve and making a really positive impact. And we're really grateful to have someone of Kathleen's caliber joining the Board. Welcome, Kathleen. Now I mentioned it's been a wild ride. So let's move to the market. So the lithium market, well, we're all witnessing the emergence of multiple new sectors and supply chains. For lithium, the emergence has got sort of 3 key structural drivers behind it. It's about new technology. It's about the global energy shift. And it's about geopolitical forces. So as it relates to new technology, of course, we've seen EVs, we've seen mass energy storage, planes, e-bikes, amongst others. The global energy shift is, of course, about moving from pipes -- essentially carbon-based energy moving to wires with green energy. And then as it relates to geopolitical forces as well, we've seen both incentive-type approaches occurring and a scramble for critical minerals security, coupled with protectionist levers and actions also merging. Both of these things are occurring of late. And notably, we've seen some tariffs get foreshadowed today care of the Trump administration. So there is plenty going on across the board. Now this graph that you can see shows the appreciation in lithium supply since 2015. And you can see supply has generally kept pace. However, there has been imbalances. And I'll draw your attention to calendar year '21, '22. And at this point here, we saw a shortage of lithium supply. That shortage was only about 4% by volume. So relatively speaking, a very narrow shortage during that period. And it made a huge impact. So please take note of this period, and I'll speak to that in a moment. As it relates to pricing, well, it has been an absolute wild ride, and Pilbara has been riding that roller coaster since 2017. And what you can see here is the lows of sub-USD 400 per tonne in 2019, 2020. We then went to highs in '22, where as you can see here it's about $6,000 per tonne. While on a spot basis, it actually went above $8,000 per tonne. So these were levels which had not been ever achieved in the history industry. In fact, well more than sort of 6x the previous highs, which occurred in early 2018. Now that period I mentioned a moment ago with the imbalance of 4%, well, this is here during '21 and '22. So what I'd call out here is despite what was a relatively minor imbalance in supply, that translated through to an outsized pricing response. The second thing to call out is that pricing response was incredibly rapid and nobody forecasted. It came out of nowhere. Now I'd put to you that I think a lot of the conditions which set up this front are still here today, and we should bear this in mind as we think about navigating the market as this industry continues to evolve. So what we are witnessing are dislocations and pricing relationships and that can be found, not only at the high level between lithium pricing, supply and demand, but we've also seen it when you start to look at the various different lithium products. So this here is an overlay of spodumene concentrate versus battery-grade lithium carbonate and also battery-grade lithium hydroxide. And what you can note is they're different, and they varied at different points of time. At some moments, carbonate has been priced higher than hydroxide and vice versa. In a different time, spodumene concentrate has run ahead of pricing and vice versa. So the challenge that presents our business is, frankly, negotiating pricing mechanisms to best reflect the underlying value of the product. So although there has been arbitrage between these products, this has narrowed in time, but there is a level of disparity recently with lithium chemicals pricing. Hence, the business has continued to evolve pricing mechanisms towards spodumene concentrate pricing, at least of late. But as I say, I just remember this variation because part of the challenge we have as a management team is navigating the cycle of behavior where nothing is staying the same. It continues to move. And that's all part of the fun we have in terms of maximizing the value from our product from our customers. Now moving back to the physicals, this dislocation between underlying physicals balance and pricing is particularly apparent at this point in time. So what we're showing here is this is the supply cost curve care of benchmark. And that red line that you see through the middle is the prevailing price of lithium chemicals today. So you can see that there's a large proportion of the supply base has actually got a cost, which is higher. So above the red line are supplies losing money effectively. So I put to you that this is unsustainable, and we have to see pricing move. Otherwise, the industry cannot function, and I suspect that we'll see more supply curtailments as we have already been seeing during the course of this year. Now consensus price -- the consensus outlook for pricing is currently USD 1,400 effectively where that line is imagine doubling the height of that from where it is right now. That's the consensus outlook in terms of long-run average pricing. So you can see we're a long way off that point at this time. So it looks notable that pricing has to move upwards. Otherwise, not only will new supply not come to serve this growing market, but these other suppliers will have to fall out of the market because they will not have an economic choice. The other takeaway to draw from the data is, what is the supply-demand balance? So that green line is benchmarks estimate of excess supply. So you can see to the area to the right of that green line is excess supply. So there is a level of excess supply, but that has been diminishing during the course of the year. So this is the landscape that we are navigating today. And it's not surprising, coming off those very high highs that we saw in '22, where anyone who had a lithium asset was bringing it to life. And those who didn't have a lithium asset were on a mad rush to get one to bring it to life. And who wouldn't, given those strong pricing of $8,000 per tonne. Now although we've got this imbalance right now and although pricing is particularly low, the good news is that as it relates to demand, those same structural drivers are there for fostering forward more demand. So that being technology, the global energy transition and those geopolitical forces I mentioned a moment ago. So I'll touch on each of these just in brief. So what you see here is the battery cell production levels. Those are the columns. And you can see it's continuing to move up in steady leaps and bounds. What you can see is from 2015 to '24. The other piece we've got here is the -- you can see the green line tracking down. That is the average cost for a cell. And what has occurred during the course of this year is the cost of the battery cell has moved through a key threshold level being $100 per kilowatt hour. Now why this is a big deal is for a long time, commentators have been talking about the fact that battery costs needed to drop lower if more adoption is going to occur, in particular for buyers to move from internal combustion cars to EVs. So that $100 threshold has now been surpassed, and we're seeing cell cost down at sort of $70 per kilowatt hour plus they're dropping even further. So what does this translate through to? Well, it translates through to EV adoption. And that's exactly what we're seeing in particular in the China market. So China has had an incredible year for EV adoption and more lithium adoption outright. But as it relates to EVs, this graph shows at that inflection which occurred at the start of this year, where the relative cost between internal combustion car and an EV change sort of through the start of this year, around January. So in China, it's now cheaper to buy an EV than an internal combustion car. And what you'd expect with that is a pickup in that EV buying, and that's exactly what we've seen. So the green line that you see moving up is EV penetration. And over the last few months, China has been breaking records in terms of EV sales. Not only for China, but globally. There's just a remarkable uptake at this time. But a key reason for that is this improvement in technology which is translating through to an improvement in the cost base. Now moving beyond those technology developments. As it relates to government support, well, post COVID, there's been a widespread of government policy support across the board as governments look to incentivize, not only the energy shift, but targeting particular change within the energy shift. Most notably for our industry, the option of EVs and the displacement and scale down of combustion engines. You can download this from our website and read this at your leisure. This data from Benchmark gives you a lay of the land of some of those incentive schemes which are on foot currently. Now these technology drivers, government drivers and just outright adoption is playing through to a steady uptake in lithium demand. And this data really paints that picture. On the right-hand side, you've got the compounding EV sales from 2020 to '24. And on the left-hand side, you've got the split of lithium demand across end-use markets, being portables, EV and mass energy storage. And I'd call out particularly the mass energy storage or the BESS, which is Battery Energy Storage Systems. That is starting to pick up pace, particularly in China. So just to give you a few of the facts here, Rho Motion expects installed good capacity for '24 this year to reach 107 gigawatt hours, which is a year-on-year increase of 59%. So 59% since last year for mass energy storage. And speaking with our customers who have visited the past few weeks, a number of them noted the uptake that they're seeing of battery demand for the demand set. Now separate to mass energy storage, I mentioned the record being broken in EVs or just to give you the numbers here. Global EV sales for the year to the end of October increased 36% on the prior year. So 30% -- 36% leap on the prior year. Find me another industry which is compounding at that growth rate. And this is a down year. It's just remarkable growth rates. In China, a key subset of that demand, year-on-year increase for the same period was 54%. So mass energy storage is going up, EV growth is going up, plus there's other signs of more product adoption. So it's the sum of these things which, for us, gives just further evidence of the fact that lithium has a bright future and one that our company has been preparing for. So what is the forecast? Well, again, care of Benchmark, friends, we've used a fair bit of their data today. This is their outlook for supply versus demand. And as you can see here, very healthy growth rates and service of those emerging demand segments I mentioned a moment ago. So for Pilbara Minerals, we remain focused on looking through these periods of volatility to capitalize on the long-term opportunity this incredible market presents. The strategy we've been pursuing has been designed to navigate this period of volatility and position the business to capitalize on this remarkable market. How we're doing that is being focused on being smart about sustainable growth, all the while preserving our strong balance sheet. Now FY '24, a strong illustration of delivery against the strategy, which I'll take you through now. But let me just quickly recap on our mission. Our mission is to be a leader in the provision of sustainable battery materials products. In the pursuit of the same, our strategy has been wired against 4 key priorities that you can see here. Firstly, it's about the operating platform. It is the economic engine of the business. It's what's driving all of the growth and what's paying all of the bills and setting us up for the future. Secondly, it's about growing that operating platform. Thirdly, it's about chemicals integration for the purpose of creating more margin per lithium unit for our shareholders, whilst also getting the benefit of more structurally integrated, more secure business, which can weather these inevitable cycles. Fourthly, it's about diversifying. So diversifying our revenue beyond the Pilgangoora asset, and FY '24 is an example of us actually taking our first step in that regard. So touching on the highlights of FY '24. Well, we've got to stack them. As it relates to the operating platform, a record production of 725,000 tonnes; robust EBITDA margin of 43%; and an ending cash balance of $1.6 billion. This was achieved despite softer lithium pricing. It's a credit to the burning focus on continued cost down and efficiency improvements by the team. And subsequent to the period end, the team secured a revolving credit facility of $1 billion. This is a great outcome, which provides more financial flexibility, plus lowering our financing costs. Through this facility, we are supported by a stable of top-tier banks, both national and international. Now securing these banks speaks to the quality of the business, the quality of the asset and the quality of the teams. Well done to Luke Bortoli, our CFO, his team and the broader business from these banks, frankly, are clamoring to back us. And it's great to have them supporting Pilbara on this next part of the journey. And as Tony will attest, they were not here at the start of Pilbara's journey, but they are now, and good on them for getting on to a good thing. Now central to the operations has been fantastic project delivery. So as it relates to the P680 expansion project, on time and on budget. And this delivery was integral in delivering our operating outcomes and cost outcomes. So credit to both the ops team and the project team for working together, managing the inevitable challenges and prevailing. So well done to Brett, Paul Laybourne, who leads the project team, a fantastic set of outcomes. And no pressure, but we're looking for the same again this year, which brings me to P1000 project, which is on schedule, on budget. And if you want to check, please ask Paul after the meeting, I'd appreciate that. But then beyond those expansions, which are implied, there's opportunity to grow further. During the course of FY '24, we announced the PFS outcome for what we call the P2000 project. And as the name suggests, it doubles the capacity from where we are today to an outright production output of 2 million tonnes per annum. Now we're able to consider an expansion of that scale care of that enormous resource that we've grown, being the Pilgangoora asset. So just a phenomenal scale step up if we were to trigger it. But next step for that study is more studies. So we're busy progressing feasibility study due in the December quarter next year, so another year away. A year is a lifetime in the lithium industry. So meanwhile, we'll get that study completed, and we'll consider that expansion step at that time, and absolutely no problems to defer that. We will time that expansion when it makes sense to do so, obviously considering the market development and where we're at, at that point in time. Now moving to chemicals. The POSCO joint venture, which Kathleen touched on in her opening, that downstream facility is busy working through commissioning and ramp up, and it's going very well thus far. So fantastic to see the progress the POSCO team is making, and we are delighted to be a joint venture partner with them. As it relates to the midstream project, construction has started, but we have poured as at the end of the September quarter. Why we've done that alongside change to the operating model is all for the preservation of cash and the knowledge we're in this part of the lithium cycle where pricing is low, and we're not sure quite when that trigger may occur. So as a defensive approach, what we have undertaken is a pullback where it makes sense, all in service of cash preservation and the knowledge that the market, in our view, ultimately has to turn. And what we're making sure, our business is positioned as to whether this part of the cycle such that we can come out stronger. So that is the basis of that pause. However, we love the idea of recommencing that project at the right time, and we would consider doing that either when the market has improved or if we can get the right levels of support, our care of our government partners or other funding support. So we are busy working on that as we speak. Lastly, as it relates to chemicals during the course of the year, we signed up a study pathway with Ganfeng. Subject to those study outcomes, that would lead to a joint venture together, 50-50 relationship, pursuing a chemical facility somewhere in the world. The reason we partnered with Ganfeng is they are one of the best in the business. They have 6 operations globally. They have not only one of the largest geographical footprints, they're also one of the largest producers globally, and they're involved in carbonate production, hydroxide production, metals production and also battery production. So they're an impressive group. And as we think about navigating this emerging landscape, partnering with Ganfeng made a lot of sense to combine our intellectual powers to jointly work through the opportunity set of this emerging market. But to stress, first step is completion of those studies, which we're pursuing as we speak. Lastly, as it relates to diversification, we have commenced the acquisition process for Latin Resources, a fantastic countercyclic on-strategy transaction, and we are delighted to be merging with Latin, merging the teams, merging the assets, and the benefit here is to really build on Pilbara's core capability and transferring our know-how and knowledge into a fantastic region, being Minas Gerais in Brazil. Also delighted to be partnering with the Latin team, and we look forward to that transaction completing, which should be around late January, early February next year. Moving to sustainability highlights, a bunch in this category as well. So as it relates to our people, most pleasingly, a really big improvement in safety performance for the year, a 27% improvement in TRIFR, dropping from 4.7 to 3.4. 7 new multiyear community partnerships, a fantastic outcome. As it relates to improving on our own sort of core sustainability metrics, released our power strategy. In fact, the team is well underway with the next step of the energy transition underway with LNG now turned on, on site, and more to follow in that regard. Beyond that, we have -- we commenced our reconciliation action plan work and the actual implementing of that. And meanwhile, we have spent more than $1.5 billion locally care of those expansions. So it's been a very busy year, as you can see across the business. And well done to Sandra and her team for helping mature across the board, across all these fronts, all these fronts. It's a fantastic set of outcomes. Now I mentioned the pause on midstream. Well, coupled with that was a decision to transition the P850 model. What this is about, and we announced this at the September quarter, is in service of cash preservation. But specifically, what it looks like is of the 2 operating plants we've got at the mine site, turning off our higher cost processing facility, being the Ngungaju operation, which is formerly the Altura operation. We made the decision to turn that off, concentrate our efforts on the larger Pilgangoora operation because the Pilgangoora operation has a lower unit cost. Now the benefit of that scale back is, firstly, it's a big cash preservation to the tune of $200 million that you can see here. And it's a relatively modest by comparison step back as it relates to volume. And of course, we stand ready to re-trigger that operation and bring that back into life when that makes sense, obviously, with an outlook to the market. And moving to our customers. This is the spread of customers. And as a major supplier for lithium, we are deeply engaged in the chemical market, and we've deliberately partnered with what we think are the best in the business, the highest-quality, strongest partners in the supply chain. Now these partners are best placed to manage this part of the cycle in our view. Why? Given their history in the industry, their low-cost position and who they're partnered with. And a number are partnered with, frankly, the top shelf in the industry. This includes Tesla, BYD, Hyundai, to name a few. Now of those partners, our strategic partners, POSCO and Ganfeng, we've got longer-term offtakes. And the rest of that group, we effectively signed shorter-dated agreements or extensions at the start of this year. Now I call out that of these partners, we are completing the last committed sales for 2 of these customers, both of which are priced on legacy pricing mechanisms. So these pricing mechanisms have, at different times, weighed down our average realized price. So next quarter onwards, we're very comfortable that the pricing mechanisms that we'll have across our contracts will appropriately reflect the prevailing market pricing. At this moment in time, until those underlying price references move yet again, hence, the reason I showed that curve earlier on of the varying carbonate hydroxide and spodumene pricing because it does move around, and that's part of the fun we have as a management team is doing the best we can to manage those movements. Just to show those project outcomes, what you see here is the P680 crushing and ore sorting facility. As I like to say at every presentation because it's true. It, is the largest of its kind in lithium, and it's the largest mineral processing facility in the Southern Hemisphere. It's a whole of ore sized for the larger P1000 expansion. It's a beast. It's very impressive. And what's great about this is it's a first. It's a first for the industry. And it's Pilbara Minerals leading the way, our team. So a great example of Australian innovation, and it's clear of the great work of our team working with TOMRA, who is the vendor for the ore sorters, and constructing partners and designers. It's brilliant. And I think this technology and this deployment will become ubiquitous across the industry for the larger hard rock operations. Why I think that will happen is because it enables you to extract more ore from the ore body to improve recoveries to the plant, both of those factors increase value through getting more lithium out of the ore body or lithium through the processing and dropping unit costs. So well done to the team. Great to see that come to life. As it relates to P1000, here it is. It's well into construction and shortly commencing -- commissioning. And during the course of this financial year, we will be bringing that online and ramping that up. Moving to quickly on P2000. Here is a layout of what that looks like. So I mentioned this is a prefeasibility study level only at this stage. Next feasibility study is underway due for output December quarter next year. And the P2000 is the 3D schematic that you can see sitting alongside the existing processing infrastructure at site. Moving to chemicals. The schematic to the left is our joint venture facility we have with POSCO in Gwangyang, South Korea. And we have one of our directors, Steve Scudamore is getting -- with John Stanning is getting on a plane tonight. I think it is John to hit over there for a celebration for the next train. So delighted to see that project come to life and a project which has been in the pipeline for many years, in fact, since early 2018. So the team is making good progress, but of course, it's a difficult time to be bringing on a chemical facility in this market. Now that brings me to the last plank of our strategy, diversification. During the course of the year, we've taken the plunge with the transaction with Latin and absolutely delighted to be taking that step. For near on 2.5 years, as a company, we've been talking to the market about wanting to be set up to do the right accretive extension when that made sense. And here it is in the form of the Latin transaction. What we love about the Latin transaction is it ticks every box. Firstly, it's a fantastic asset in terms of what's being found in the ground. It's a fantastic time to be entering given that post resource drilling, the team is in the early phase of working out the most appropriate design. So it's a fantastic time for Pilbara to enter to transfer our knowledge into what does that design look like, such that we can maximize and make the most of that asset. And lastly, I think the timing just worked out really well in terms of where the assets at. So a big thank you to Chris Gale, the MD for Latin, all the Latin team. And one of the key strengths of this transaction is it's a share transaction, it's not a cash transaction. So that's great for both sets of shareholders to not draw cash, use our equity. And for Latin's shareholders, they get to carry on the lithium journey, care of 1 pure-play lithium developer being Latin merging with Pilbara , whom, of course, is a pure-play lithium. So a great set of outcomes, a perfect marriage, and we look forward to bringing that online in due course. And lastly for me and to finish, Pilbara Minerals has navigated an absolutely volatile but rapid rise of the lithium market. And we've done that through focusing on being smart -- about being smart about sustainable growth and all the while preserving our strong balance sheet. We have laid a solid foundation built to withstand the market shifts and capture the immense potential that lies ahead. In the process, we have evolved from a small player to an ASX 50, a leader in lithium. This has been underpinned by a clear strategic plan, operating more efficiently, maximizing the value on our assets through stepwise growth, advancing our chemical capabilities and participation and lastly, diversifying our revenues and our business across new accretive assets. FY '24 was a demonstration of disciplined delivery across each of these fronts. Now the world is changing. We are all bearing witness to the adoption of new technologies and the global energy shift. The lithium industry is but one exciting area that is supporting this shift, albeit it's been a very wild ride. As we look forward, we're excited about the long-term outlook for the industry and the opportunity this presents for our shareholders. However, we remain focused on maintaining our disciplined approach to delivery. We maintain -- we remain grounded to care of our proud history as a young Aussie company that fought its way into this position. Thank you for your trust. Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to updating you in the future. I'll now hand back to Kathleen. Thank you.

Thank you, Dale. I will briefly explain the meeting procedures before we move to the formal business of today's meeting. All voting today will be conducted by way of poll on all resolutions, which I will declare open shortly. If you are eligible to vote, there are 2 ways you may cast your vote, in person or via the online platform. For those in attendance, you may vote using voting papers, which you were handed when you entered the meeting. When called upon to vote, please do so by marking your voting paper, either for, against or abstain. Your voting papers will be collected prior to the end of the meeting. Any questions on voting for those in attendance, please raise your hand, and Computershare staff will assist. For those voting online, simply press the vote icon and all resolutions will be activated with voting options. To cast your vote, select one of the options. There is no need to hit a Submit or Enter button as the vote is automatically recorded. You will receive a vote confirmation notification on your screen. You can change your vote up until the time I declare voting closed. If you require any assistance during the meeting, please refer to the online meeting guide, which is available on the online platform or website or contact Computershare directly. With regard to proxies, these numbers will be displayed on the screen for each resolution. Please note that a number of open proxies have been received for the Chairman's discretion, and I advise that I, as Chairman, will be directing these in favor of each relevant solution. Ladies and gentlemen, I now turn to the formal matters to be considered today and declare voting open on all items of business. I will give you a warning before I move to close voting. Rod Somes from Computershare has agreed to be returning officer today. And following confirmation by Computershare, final results will be announced to the ASX later today. The questions process for those attending virtually has been explained already. For those in the room, if you wish to ask a question, please raise your hand and wait for the microphone before stating your name for the record. In the interest of time and to allow all attendees an opportunity, you may be limited to asking 1 question and 1 follow-up question. The company has released its Notice of Meeting for today's meeting, which can be viewed on the ASX and Pilbara Minerals website as well as the company's Computershare meeting. I now propose that the Notice of Meeting is taken as read. If there are no objections, I will record the motion as carried. I will now move to the business of the meeting. A summary of the proxy votes is on the screen. The first item of business is to receive and table for consideration the annual report, which includes the financial report, the sustainability report, the director's report and the auditor's report for the financial year ending 30 June 2024. Members note that the reports are not tabled for approval, but simple discussion -- simply discussion. Mr. Derek Meates from the company's auditor, KPMG, is available to answer questions from members in relationship to the conduct of the audit. I now pause to allow shareholders to comment or ask any questions on the financial report or the reports of the directors and audit. Also, if there are any general questions on the company following Dale's presentation, we can address those now. Are there any questions in the room? If you just raise your hand, we'll get you a microphone.

No? Okay. I might start with some previously submitted questions. So we had some questions from Simon Taylor, Director of Taylored [indiscernible] PTY, on pricing. I think the first question, which is about why is our price -- what is our price relative to the market? Dale answered. The second question was around the March FY '24 quarterly activities report. There was a customer pricing adjustment on shipments prior to March due to the continued decline in the lithium chemicals price. And the question is, in the event that demand starts to exceed supply and prices rise sharply, are Pilbara Minerals contract structure that Pilbara Minerals would see this pricing adjustment return to its favor? And the answer is yes. The second question was why are the product qualification processes for POSCO JV-produced hydroxide taking so long? Is the qualification process independently conducted? So this goes down, I think Dale explained a little bit about the fact that because these are battery-grade metals, there is actually a fairly long qualification process, which for those of us who drive electric cars, would hope is a robust process before they get qualified. I don't know if you want to add anything to that, Dale.

No. No. It is a long process. We hear some of the quickest -- the quickest Is 6 months. But it's quite often you'll hear from customers taking 12 months.

Okay. So I might then -- do we have any online questions, Dani.

Yes, we do. We have a question here from Mr. [ Ryan Evans ]. If demand keeps compounding at 20% per annum, how long do you expect it will take for existing supply and capacity from mothballed and imminent production to be outstripped by demand? Is this likely a 2- or 3-year horizon or longer?

Yes. So this is a crystal ball gazing one on. So a couple of comments here. In terms of the consensus outlook, there's a wide range in terms of the outlook, some of the more pessimistic suggesting that it will take till the end of the decade before there's any balance and any potential rally. When I speak to our customers, they think it will be something much, much sooner. And there is a spectrum of opinions between them. One of the challenges of forecasting is both -- insight to both supply and demand is incredibly challenging. As it relates to the supply side, what we've seen during the course of the year is its significant curtailments to the tune of what we estimate, 150,000 to 200,000 LCE during the course of this year. That equates to approximately 1.5 million tonnes spodumene equivalent. So that's come out of the system this year. As it relates to that cost profile I showed and where 40% to 50% is already under water, there is a real question as to who comes out of the market next or what precipitates a price rally. Now historically, we've seen price rallies get triggered out of the blue. Maybe that happens, maybe that doesn't. But this becomes really hard as it relates to supply side. Then it becomes demand. What's going to happen with demand? So as we walk through today, there's just some amazing subsets of demand, whether it's EVs, mass energy stores. That is continuing to compound healthy growth rates. It's possible that we might see more of that, particularly as other markets open up. But it's incredibly difficult to predict any of that. But for Pilbara, it doesn't phase us at all. And the reason it doesn't phase us is our low-cost position and the fact that we're at the top of what's an amazing long-run adoption curve.

The next question has come in from Mr. [ Robert Clark ], who's a shareholder. Pilbara Minerals has often described itself as a close follower in adopting green energy solutions. Recently, cattle announced plans to provide turnkey green energy systems aiming to significantly reduce costs with solutions capable of powering large-scale operations like data centers or cities. Given Pilbara's exceptional renewable energy potential and your customers' progress towards 24-hour energy solutions, how might you leverage your customers' advancements to adopt their technologies? And what impact could more affordable decentralized electricity have on your operations?

That's a great question. Probably the first place to start is -- from inception, Pilbara Minerals has had the objective of becoming a more sustainable operator in every sense. And we are walking that journey as we speak. And some of the milestones I mentioned a moment ago speak to that, whether it's the power strategy that we're deploying and other various steps. We are well underway to decarbonize. However, there's just so much more to be done. And we, alongside all the other miners and many other heavy industry, have the same challenges, and some of those challenges aren't yet solved, but we're up for that. And we're certainly doing what we can to mature through this curve as quickly as we can. And things like the midstream project with Calix, that could be potentially a fantastic decarbonization solution at time, but it's early in its innovation, and there's more to go there. To the part around what can we get out of our customers and can we get some benefit from working with them, we are definitely keen on their help. And if they would like to provide green solutions for free, that will be great. And historically, we have actually pushed them on this and said, "GEE, why don't you give us some batteries for free. And why don't you help us out? They are definitely up for supporting us, but not for free." And interested to see how they go. But everyone has this challenge, but I think for the battery materials industry, we appreciate that our whole existence is all about supporting this transition. So we have to do a great job, and that's what we're endeavoring to do to decarbonize.

The next question is from Mr. [ Kenneth McMahon ], who's a shareholder. Brine production appears lower cost than spodumene. I am concerned that the build-out of this production will displace spodumene.

As it relates to lithium sources, there's hard rock, brine, clays, geothermal. So there's a number of natural sources for lithium. Now within each of those categories, there's a spectrum of low-cost, high-quality assets to rubbish assets. So whether it's brine, hard rock, clay, what matters -- it doesn't matter whether you're brine or hard rock, is to have a high-quality asset at a low-cost position, which is exactly what we have with the Pilgangoora asset. And what we will have with the Salinas asset in Brazil. So that is the, I guess, the benefit. So it's not so much a case of brines versus hard rock. And what I'd call out is that some of the major lithium groups actually have a foot in both camps. And they've done it for that reason that will need plenty of lithium. Low-cost lithium is really the focus in the right jurisdictions. So I think we fast forward to the future, my crystal ball shows as it is today, a spectrum of the higher-quality assets, both brine and hard rock at the left-hand side of the cost curve.

The next question is from Mr. [ Robert Clark ]. The Latin Resources acquisition seems well aligned with midstream Calix processing leveraging cheap renewable power and proximity to a port over 400 kilometers away. How dependent is the development of this resource on securing offtakers in North America and Europe capable of converting your midstream product?

Great question. And the potential for a Calix calcine or electrified solution in Brazil and particularly Minas Gerais and Las Salinas project, it's a fantastic setting potentially. Why? Because such a high proportion of the power is hydropower and very low cost. So we're quite excited about the possibility of deploying that technology there, and we will study that and see what we can do in that regard. As it relates to offtake and sourcing buyers, we've got no concerns in that regard. There's a broad base of high-quality buyers from almost every part of the supply chain whom continue to pursue Pilbara for supply, whether that's from our Australian asset or now Brazil care of that pending transaction.

The next question, Chairman, is from Mr. [ Gregory Shaw ]. PLS is the most shorted stock in the market. Why is PLS doing nothing? USA Company [indiscernible] problem are actively taking legal action on the responsible entities?

Yes, PLS is a well shorted stock, and that's -- our strength is that we are a stand-alone, high-value lithium business. And the weakness is that, that makes us the perfect trading opportunity if you want to speculate about lithium pricing. And so at this stage, there's nothing we can do except continue to deliver. And when the price turns, that will clear through.

Another question here from Mr. Robert Clark. In Rio Tinto's recent takeover of Arcadium, they highlighted the cost advantages of DLE and brine-based lithium production. Beyond scale and the ore sorter, what additional deflationary levers does PLS see as opportunities to further reduce operational costs?

Yes. Thank you for that question. As it relates to further cost-down levers at the mine site, there is a number which we are progressing and will progress in the future. So firstly, as we go larger, we get the benefit of scale benefit and reduced unit costs. So we will see the benefits of the P1000 next year once we are ramped up in steady state. So there's a benefit there. In the future, we are considering, as it relates to mining, different fleet sizes. There's potential to reduce some costs through there. Outside of that port, we are progressing discussions around Lumsden Point, which would enable us to move from retain box outload method, so using retainer box to load ships to direct outload conveyor. So there will be cost benefits to come from that. And then back at the mine site, Brett and his team have an ongoing mission around improving recovery through the plant. And during the course of the year, we've seen a number of those initiatives yield benefits, and there's just more to go. And as we bring to bear our ore petrology work in the mine, the new online analyzers, which are coming with a new plant, and the new flotation circuit, the new flotation regimes, all of that will play through the recovery benefits. So some of those things will take us further down the cost curve.

A question from Mr. [ Philip Lowla ]. Can you please provide a rationale for pausing the midstream project with Calix? Just trying to get some deeper insights into this decision.

Yes, as mentioned in the presentation that the rationale for pausing that project is just cash preservation. We like the midstream project. It's why we're pursuing it. We think it's got the potential to be a game changer for our company and maybe the industry. And we'd love to see that come back online and deliver that. However, at this point in the cycle, the name of the game is preserving cash, reducing costs. So for that reason, we thought, let's pause that, and we did that decision with agreement with Calix with the view that we bring it back online when either the market improves or we get additional support from the government or another funding source.

Thank you. The next question is from Mr. [ Christian Selatonga ]. Can you please explain the different ways you communicate news to shareholders? Sometimes it feels like it's hard to get news.

I will try and do that justice. I've got Sandra here who can speak to that. As it relates to communication to shareholders, I guess, yes, the things I would rattle off here, obviously, the ASX releases are sort of the basic, and we've kept with the practice of being fulsome in those releases. Separate to that, we've been using a number of online platforms, including LinkedIn, and even Instagram for those who like photos, obviously, not so much content driven, but more activity-driven. And then outside of that, we've been taking opportunities where we can to make it easy for shareholder engagement. So over the past year, we've actually done a couple of dedicated shareholder events. In fact, I think it was only about 3 weeks ago, we did one in Sydney, and we had a number of our shareholders. Prior to that, we did another one in Melbourne. So we've been doing those types of activities. And separate to that, we've got James Fuller, Lead IR -- Head of IR, who fields calls and e-mails, and he welcomes an e-mail or a reach-out if any shareholder would like to reach out.

Thank you. The Latin transaction is paid for -- sorry, this question is for Mr. Kenneth McMahon, who's a shareholder. The Latin transaction is paid for with shares at what price? It appears we are using discounted PLS shares, so therefore, paying a relatively higher price.

Yes. So the details of what we paid were part of that disclosure. And the way to think about that purchase is what is the premium for the purchase of the asset. So I'd refer Kenneth to that release. And depending which VWAP that gives you the markup for the acquisition. But it's not a case of discounting. It's the case of merging the equity.

The ratio of our shares that we're paying does not go up as our share price goes down. It's a set ratio.

Okay. The next question is from Mr. [ Stephen Mayne ]. He's a shareholder. Australia is currently in the midst of an unprecedented deluge of takeovers that has contributed to listed entities on the ASX falling by 7.5% since June 2022. There is a clear mispricing between public markets and private markets. Why are public markets not valuing ASX-listed companies like ours more highly? And what are we doing to avoid being gobble up like so many other companies? Does the Chair agree this is a problem for the nation, particularly with so few new floats replenishing the ASX ranks? Was the CEO surprised by Rio Tinto's recent big takeover move in the lithium space?

So I'm not an economist. Yes, I do think that we need a healthy public market, and I think that there is a disconnect between what's going private and what's going public. I think some of that is regulation, some of that is access to capital. I think there is an issue in terms of -- and there's also an issue of sort of global consolidation, which you would have seen through the Rio Tinto deal. I don't think it's surprised anybody given that Rio Tinto has been clear about their objectives of getting into lithium that they would do that. And our job is to make sure that we are doing the best job we can to deliver what we say we're going to deliver at the lowest cost.

Thank you. The next question is from Mr. Stephen Mayne. Could the CEO please summarize the extent and breadth of engagement he's had with analysts, brokers, fund managers and institutional investors after each 6 monthly release to the ASX? How does that compare to what the company does for its circa 30,000 retail investors? Also, thank you for offering shareholders a hybrid AGM today, which maximizes retail shareholder participation. Will you commit to maintaining the excellent hybrid AGM model going forward?